This is a record of my journey as a Muslim. I used to be Catholic and belonged to a missionary organisation. After my conversion, I sat on the board of a Muslim converts' organisation and specialised in da'wah programmes, convert management, interfaith issues and apostasy cases. I am an initiate of a Sufi order. As such, the articles and writings tend to cover these areas.
All the Arabic and graphics could not have been done without the help of my wife, Zafirah.

Monday, 12 November 2012

al-Albani: A Concise Guide to the Chief Innovator of Our Time

Naswir ad-Din al-Albani is the arch-innovator
of the Wahhabis and “Salafis” in our time. A watch repairman by trade, al-Albani was a
self-taught claimant to hadits
scholarship who had no known teacher in any of the religious sciences and has
admitted not to have memorised the Qur’an nor any book of ahadits, fiqh, ‘aqidah, uswul, or grammar. He
achieved fame by attacking the great scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah and reviling the science of fiqh with especial malice towards the school of his father who was
a Hanafi jurist.

He was a rabid reviler of the awliya’ and the Sufis. He was expelled from Syria, then Saudi Arabia
and lived in Amman, Jordan under house arrest until his death in 1999. He remains the qiblah of the people of innovation, self-styled reformers of Islam,
and other “Salafi” and Wahhabi sympathisers, and the preferred author of book
merchants and many uneducated Muslims. Most
of the contemporary Sunni scholars warned of his heresy and many of them wrote
articles or full-length works against him.

The Indian ahadits
scholar, Habib ‘Abd ar-Rahman al-A’azhami (r.a.)
wrote al-Albani Shudzudzuh wa Akhta’uh,
“al-Albani's Aberrations and Errors,” in four volumes. al-Albani’s deviance in the field of ahadits alone could fill four volumes.

The Syrian scholar, Imam Muhammad Sa`id Ramadhan
al-Buwthi (r.a.) wrote the two
classics, al-Lamadzhabiyyah Akhtaru Bid’atin
Tuhaddidu ash-Shari’ah al-Islamiyyah, “Not Following a School of
Jurisprudence is the Most Dangerous Innovation Threatening Islamic Sacred Law”,
and as-Salafiyyah Marhalatun Zamaniyyatun
Mubarakah laa Madzhabun Islami, “The Way of the Early Muslims was a Blessed
Historical Epoch, Not an Islamic School of Thought.”

The Egyptian ahadits scholar, Shaykh Muhammad ‘Awwamah (r.a.) wrote Adab al-Ikhtilaf,
“The Proper Manners of Expressing Difference of Opinion,” criticising al-Albani’s
lack of manners in issues of ikhtilaf
and his constant takfir, and labelling
of others as innovators and heretics.

al-Albani's innovations in the religion were
many. In his book, Adab al-Zafaf, he prohibited women from wearing gold jewellery, despite
the ijma’ permitting it. He claimed that zakat is not due on money obtained from commerce, the main activity
whereby money circulates among Muslims. He
absolutely prohibited fasting on Saturdays.
He prohibited i’itikaf in any
but the Three Mosques. He claimed that
it is lawful to eat in Ramadhan before maghrib
as defined by the shari’ah, and
similarly after the true dawn. He
compared Hanafi fiqh to the Gospel in
his 3rd edition commentary on Imam al-Mundziri’s (r.a.) Mukhtaswar Swahih Muslim.
This phrase was removed from later editions. He called people to imitate him rather than
the a’immah of the salaf such as the founders of the Four
Schools, and his followers invalidate the ahadits
that contradict his views. He prohibited
the make-up performance of prayers missed intentionally. He claimed that it is permissible for
menstruating women and those in a state of major defilement, junub, to recite, touch, and carry the
Qur’an.

al-Albani claimed over and over that among the
innovations in religion existent in Madina is the persistence of the Prophet’s
(s.a.w.) grave in the mosque. He claimed that whoever travels intending to
visit the Prophet (s.a.w.) or to ask
him for his intercession is a misguided innovator. He claimed that whoever carries dzikr beads in his hand to remember
Allah (s.w.t.) is misguided and
innovating. He claimed in Tamam al-Minna that masturbation does
not annul one’s fast. He published “corrected”
editions of Swahih al-Bukhari and Swahih Muslim, which he deceitfully
called abridgments, mukhtaswar, in
violation of the integrity of these mother books. He published newly-styled editions of Imam al-Bukhari's
(r.a.) al-Adab al-Mufrad, Imam al-Mundziri's (r.a.) at-Targhib wa at-Tarhib,
and Imam as-Suyuthi’s (r.a.) al-Jami` asw-Swaghir, each of which he
split into two works, respectively prefixed “Swahih” and
“Dha’if” in violation of the
integrity of these mother books.

In terms of theology, he invented a location for
Allah (s.w.t.) above the Throne which
he named “al-makan al-‘adami”, “the
non-existent place.” Regarding the Divine
Attributes, he said, “Many of those who interpret figuratively are not
heretics, but they say what heretics say,” implying Sunni Muslims are upon kufr.
He also said “at-ta’wil ‘ayn at-ta’til,” “figurative interpretation is the very
same as nullification.” This is found in his Fatawa and Mukhtaswar al-‘Uluw.

He suggested that Imam al-Bukhari (r.a.) was a disbeliever for interpreting
the Divine Face as Mulk, “Dominion”
or “Sovereignty” in the verse:

In the book of tafsir in his Swahih,
Imam al-Bukhari (r.a.) wrote, “Except
‘His Wajh’ means except ‘His Mulk’, and it is also said, ‘Except
whatever was for the sake of His Countenance.’”

In contrast, al-Albani said, “No true believer
would say such a thing,” implying that Imam al-Bukhari (r.a.) was not a believer. He
then added, “We should consider al-Bukhari innocent of that statement,” in his Fatawa.

In imitation of the Mu’tazila, he declared tawaswswul, istighatsa’ and tashaffu`
through the Prophet (s.a.w.) or one
of the awliya’, haram and tantamount to shirk
in his booklet, at-Tawaswswul. His friends, ibn Baz and those who obey them
such as al-Qahtani in al-Wala’ wa al-Bara’
and others, did so as well. This is in flat
rejection of the numerous sound and explicit narrations to that effect, such as
Imam al-Bukhari’s (r.a.) narration of
the Prophet (s.a.w.) from ibn ‘Umar (r.a.), “Truly the sun shall draw so near
on the Day of Resurrection that sweat shall reach to the mid-ear, whereupon
they shall ask help from Adam (a.s.),
then from Musa (a.s.), then from
Muhammad (s.a.w.) who will intercede,”
and continuing to “and that day Allah shall Raise him to an Exalted Station, so
that all those who are standing shall glorify him,” referring to the Exalted
status of the Prophet (s.a.w.).

He denied that the name of the angel of death
is ‘Azra’il and claimed such a name has
no basis other than Israelite reports, although Qadhi ‘Iyadh (r.a.) reported the ijma’ of the ummah on it
in ash-Shifa’.

Like the rest of Wahhabi innovators, he
declared Ash’aris, Maturidis, and Sufis to be outside the fold of the Ahl as-Sunnah and even outside the fold
of Islam, although Allah (s.w.t.) and
His Prophet (s.a.w.) Praised them:

O ye who believe! If any from among you turn back from his faith,
soon will Allah Produce a people whom He will Love as they will love Him, ―
lowly with the believers, mighty against the rejecters, fighting in the Way of
Allah, and never afraid of the reproaches of such as find fault. That is the Grace of Allah, which He will
Bestow on whom He Pleaseth: and Allah Encompasseth all and He Knoweth all
things. (Surah al-Ma’idah:54)

Upon Revelation of the verse, the Prophet (s.a.w.) pointed to Abu Musa al-Ash’ari (r.a.) and said, “They are that man’s people.” This is narrated from Qadhi ‘Iyadh (r.a.) by Imam ibn Abi Shaybah (r.a.) and Imam al-Hakim (r.a.) who said it is swahih by Imam Muslim’s (r.a.) criterion, and by Imam ath-Thabarani
(r.a.) with a sound chain as stated
by Imam al-Haytsami (r.a.).

Imam al-Qushayri (r.a.), Imam ibn ‘Asakir (r.a.),
Imam al-Bayhaqi (r.a.), Imam ibn as-Subki
(r.a.), and others said that the
followers of Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari, who were mostly Sufis, are included
among Abu Musa’s (r.a.) people for in
every place that a people are affiliated to a Prophet (s.a.w.), what is meant is the followers of that Prophet (s.a.w.).

As for Maturidis, they are referred to in the
narration of the Prophet (s.a.w.)
from Shaykh Bishr al-Khats’ami (r.a.)
or Shaykh al-Ghanawi (r.a.) with a swahîh chain according to Imam al-Hakim
(r.a.), Imam adz-Dzahabi (r.a.), Imam as-Suyuthi (q.s.), and Imam al-Haytsami (r.a.): “Truly you shall conquer
Constantinople and truly what a wonderful leader will her leader be, and truly
what a wonderful army will that army be!” Both the leader and his army were classic
Hanafi Maturidis and it is known that Sultan Mehmet Fatih (r.a.) loved and respected Sufis, practiced tawaswswul and followed a shaykh.
Moreover, enmity against Ash’aris,
Maturidis, and Sufis, is nifaq and
enmity against the ummah of Islam as
most of the ‘ulama of Islam are thus
described.

In at least five of his books, al-Albani called
for the demolition of the Green Dome of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) Mosque in al-Madina al-Munawwarah and for taking the
Prophet’s (s.a.w.) grave outside the mosque. This is found in Ahkam al-Jana’iz wa Bida’uha, Talkhisw
Ahkam al-Jana’iz, Tahdzir as-Sajid,
Hijjat an-Nabi, and Manasik al-Hajj wa al-‘Umrah.

He stated, “I have found no evidence for the
Prophet’s (s.a.w.) hearing of the salaam of those who greet him at his
grave,” and, “I do not know from where ibn Taymiyyah took his claim that he
hears the salaam from someone near.” Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah (r.a.) wrote such in Majmu’a al-Fatawa. This and the previous item are among his
greater enormities and bear the unmistakable signature of innovation and
deviation. This claim of al-Albani
is found in his notes on Shaykh Nu’man al-Aluwsi's (r.a.) al-Ayat al-Bayyinat
and his Silsilah Dha’ifa. He considered it an innovation to visit
relatives, neighbours, or friends on the day of ‘Iyd and prohibited it. This
is found in his Fatawa.

He gave the fatwa
that Muslims should exit Palestine en masse and leave it to the Jews as it is
part the Abode of War, Dar al-Harb. This is found in Fatawa.

He advocated in his Swalawat an-Nabi, the formula, “Peace and blessings upon the Prophet,”
instead of, “upon you, O Prophet,” in the tashahhud, in contradiction of the Four Sunni Schools, on the basis of a hadits of ibn Mas’ud (r.a.) whereby the companions used the
indirect-speech formula after the passing of the Prophet (s.a.w.).

But the Prophet (s.a.w.) himself instructed them to pray exactly as he prayed saying,
“Peace and blessings upon you, O Prophet,” without telling them to change it
after his death, nor did the major companions whose sunnah we were ordered to imitate, together with that of the Prophet
(s.a.w.), such as Abu Bakr (r.a.) and ‘Umar (r.a.), teach the companions and successors otherwise.

He prohibited praying more than eleven rak’ah in swalah at-tarawih on the grounds that the Prophet (s.a.w.) never did and in blatant
rejection of his explicit command to follow the sunnah of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs after him. He declared, in Fatawa, that adding more to eleven supererogatory rak`ah in the tahajjud is an innovation rather than an act of obedience on the
grounds that the Prophet (s.a.w.), “never
ever prayed one hundred rak`ah in his
whole lifetime,” although the ‘ulama agree that there is no prescribed
limit to something which the Prophet (s.a.w.)
commanded without specifically quantifying it, and he said in three authentic
narrations narrated as part of a longer hadits
from Tsawban (r.a.) with sound chains
by Imam ibn Majah (r.a.) and Imam Ahmad
(r.a.). Imam Malik (r.a.) cited in his al-Muwaththa’
that the Prophet (s.a.w) said, “Know
that the best of your good deeds is prayer.’

Narrated from ibn ‘Umar (r.a.) in the Nine Books, the Prophet (s.a.w.) said, “The night prayer is in cycles of two and when one of
you fears the rising of the dawn, let him pray a single one.” It is also established in many authentic
narrations collected by Imam ‘Abd al-Hayy al-Lakhnawi (r.a.), in the second part of his Iqamat
al-Hujjat ‘ala Anna al-Iktswar min at-Ta’abbudi Laysa bi Bid’ah, that the companions
and salaf prayed hundreds, if not
thousands, of rak`ah in every
twenty-four hours.

al-Albani considered it an innovation to pray
four rak`ah between the adzan of Jumu`ah and the adzan before
swalah, although it is authentically
narrated that, “the Prophet (s.a.w.)
prayed four rak`ah before Jumu`ah and four rak`ah after it,” with a fair chain from ‘Ali (k.w.) and ibn ‘Abbas (r.a.)
as stated by Imam al-‘Iraqi (r.a.) in
Tarh at-Tatsrib, Imam ibn Hajr (r.a.) in Talkhis al-Habir, and Imam at-Tahanawi (r.a.) in ‘Ila’ as-Sunan.

He declared, in Fatawa, that it haram and
an innovation to lengthen the beard over a fistful’s length although there is
no proof for such a claim in the whole shari’ah
and none of the ‘ulama ever said it
before him.

He gave free rein to his propensity to insult
and vilify the ‘ulama of the past as
well as his contemporaries. As a result,
it is difficult to wade through his writings without being affected by the
nefarious spirit that permeates them. For
example, he considered previous editors and commentators of Imam al-Bukhari’s (r.a.) al-Adab al-Mufrad, “Book of Manners,” “sinful," “unbearably
ignorant,” and even, “liars” and “thieves.” Of one, he said, “There are so many weak hadits that it is an un-Islamic practice”;
of another, “It is ignorance which must not be tolerated”; of another, “Forgery
and an open lie,” and continued, “His edition is stolen,” meaning stolen from a
previous one. All this from the Introduction
of his Swahih al-Adab al-Mufrad. Such examples actually fill a book compiled
by Shaykh Hasan ‘Ali as-Saqqaf (r.a.)
and titled Qamus Shata’im al-Albani wa
Alfazhihi al-Munkarat allati Yatluquha ‘ala ‘Ulama’ al-Ummah, “Dictionary
of al-Albani's Insults and the Heinous Words He Uses Against the Scholars of
the Community.”

al-Albani revived Imam ibn Hazm's (r.a.) anti-madzhabi claim that differences can never be a mercy in any case
but are always a curse on the basis of the verse:

Do they not ponder on the
Qur’an (with care)? Had it been from
other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy. (Surah
an-Nisa’:82)

In as-Silsilah
adh-Dha’ifa, Imam an-Nawawi (r.a.)
had long since refuted this view in his commentary on Swahih Muslim where he said, “If something is a Mercy, it is not
necessary for its opposite to be the opposite of Mercy. No one makes this binding and no one even says
this, except an ignoramus or one who affects ignorance.”

Similarly, Imam al-Munawi (r.a.) said in Faydh al-Qadir,
“This is a contrivance that showed up on the part of some of those who have
sickness in their heart.”

In his introduction to Imam as-San’ani’s (r.a.) Raf` al-Asthar, al-Albani expressed hatred for those who read Imam
al-Buswiri’s (q.s.) masterpiece, Qaswidah al-Burdah, and called them
cretins, mahabil. This would encompass millions of Muslims past
and present including the likes of Imam ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani (r.a.), Imam as-Sakhawi (r.a.) and Imam as-Suyuthi (q.s.) who all included it as required
reading in the Islamic curriculum.

al-Albani perpetuated lies about the Ash’ari scholars,
such as his remark that Imam Sayf ad-Din al-Amidi (r.a.) did not pray. This is
found in his notes to Imam Nu`man al-Aluwsi’s (r.a.) al-Ayat al-Bayyinat,
although Dr. Hasan al-Shafi’I, in his massive biography entitled al-Amidi wa Ara’uhu al-Kalamiyyah, showed
that the story that Imam al-Amidi (r.a.)
did not pray was a forgery put into circulation during the campaign waged by ibn
asw-Swalah against him for teaching logic and philosophy in Damascus.

He perpetuated, in Mukhtaswar
al-‘Uluw, the false claim first made by Munir Agha, the founder of the
Egyptian Salafiyya Press, that Imam Abu Muhammad al-Juwayni (r.a.), the father of Imam al-Haramayn (r.a.), “repented” from Ash`ari doctrine
and supposedly authored a tract titled Risalah
fi Itsbat al-Istiwa’ wa al-Fawqiyyah, “Epistle on the Assertion of
Establishment and Aboveness.” This
spurious attribution continues to be promoted without verification by
modern-day Salafis who adduce it to forward the claim that Imam al-Juwayni (r.a.) embraced anthropomorphist
concepts. The Risalah in question is not mentioned in any of the bibliographical
and biographical sources, nor does Imam adz-Dzahabi (r.a.) cite it in his encyclopedia of anthropomorphist views, al-‘Uluw. More conclusively, it is written in modern
argumentative style and reflects typically contemporary anthropomorphist
obsessions.

He derided the fuqaha’ of the ummah for
accepting, in their massive majority, the hadits
of Mu’adz ibn Jabal (r.a.) on ijtihad as authentic then rejected the
definition of ‘ilm in Islam as
pertaining to fiqh but claimed that
it pertains only to hadits, although
the ‘ulama of the salaf explicitly said that a hadits master without fiqh is a misguided innovator. This is found in his notes on Imam al-Qasimi’s
(r.a.) al-Mash ‘ala al-Jawrabayn. And
he defined the ‘alim in Tahrim Alat at-Tarab as “meaning, of
course, the Salafi ‘alim, not the Khalafi,
al-Ghazali.”

Imam al-Qurthubi (r.a.), in his Tafsir said,
“One of ‘arifin said, ‘A certain
group that has not yet come up in our time but shall show up at the end of time
and will curse the scholars and insult the jurists.’”